YOUNG CFL GUNS

Discovered: Signed by the Argos in June 2012 after a tryout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Experience: Had thrown 11 passes heading into this season.

Debut numbers: 21 of 25 for 253 yards, 3 TDs, 0 interceptions

Result: A 38-12 victory over B.C.

Bo Levi Mitchell, Calgary

Age: 23

Ht.: 6-2 Wt.: 204

College: Eastern Washington.

Discovered: Signed by the Stamps in April 2012 after winning the Walter Payton Award as the top player in Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision; formerly I-AA).

Experience: Had thrown 21 passes for the Stamps before this season.

Debut numbers: 29 of 33, 376 yards, 3 TDs, 0 interceptions

Result: A 37-24 win over Winnipeg in which he earned CFL Offensive Player of the Week honours.

Drew Willy, Saskatchewan

Age: 26

Ht.: 6-3 Wt.: 215

College: Buffalo

Discovered: His QB coach in college was former CFLer and Rider Danny Barrett. Had stints with Baltimore, Indianapolis, New York Jets, San Diego and Las Vegas (UFL) before joining Saskatchewan.

Experience: Second year with Riders; had thrown 33 passes before this year.

Debut numbers: 14 of 25, 269 yards, 3 TDs, 0 interceptions

Result: A 32-10 victory over Hamilton.

Justin Goltz, Winnipeg

Age: 25

Ht.: 6-5 Wt.: 210

College: Occidental College

Discovered: Signed in October 2010 after being released by the Sacramento Mountain Lions (UFL) in their training camp.

Experience: In his fourth year with the Bombers, had thrown 14 passes, completing seven, before this season.

Debut numbers: 19 of 35, 194 yards, 2 TDs, 1 interception

Result: A 37-24 loss to Calgary.

THE OTTAWA REDBLACKS EXPANSION DRAFT

When: Dec. 16, 2013

How it works: Ottawa will select eight import and 16 Canadian players from the rosters of current CFL teams, including two quarterbacks. Each existing CFL team can protect only one pivot.

The RedBlacks can select a maximum of two QBs and not more than one kicker or punter and a team cannot have both a QB and a kicker/punter plucked from its roster. As well, a team can lose only one QB off its roster.

The draft will consist of three rounds, one for imports, two for Canadians.

Round 1: import draft

Teams can protect one QB and 10 additional imports.

Ottawa will select one import player from each club.

If a QB is selected, that team will then be able to protect two more Canadians in the first round of the non-import draft; if a kicker/punter is selected, that team will be able to protect one additional Canadian.

Round 2: non-import draft

Teams can protect six Canadians (eight if a QB had been selected, seven if a K/P was chosen in Round 1).

Any kicker/punter must be selected in the first round of the non-import draft. If one is chosen, that team would then be able to protect eight Canadians in the second round, instead of six.

Ottawa will then select one Canadian from each team.

Round 3: non-import draft

Teams will submit a second list of six protected Canadians (eight if they lost a kicker or punter in the first round)

Ottawa will then select one Canadian from each team.

FYI: For all those fans asking -- some seriously inquiring, others tongue-in-cheek -- NO, the Bombers are not allowed to participate in the draft, too.

All of this brings us to what has unfolded in the three-down game over the last week, where four different pivots all made just their first or second professional start, with three of them -- Calgary's Bo Levi Mitchell, Saskatchewan's Drew Willy and Zach Collaros with Toronto -- exiting with wins.

The lone exception? Justin Goltz with the Bombers.

Now, this isn't meant to be a damnation of Goltz by any means. His numbers -- 19-of-35 for 194 yards with two touchdowns against one interception -- were decent, not spectacular, and there were enough flashes to have most at least wanting to see more from the 25-year-old.

But dig a little further and, frankly, there's actually very little to compare the situations Mitchell, Willy and Collaros are/were in to what Goltz is facing. As spectacular as Mitchell was in devouring the Bombers, and as much as his stock is represented by a distinct upward arrow, he remains third on the Stampeder depth chart behind veterans Drew Tate and Kevin Glenn.

Willy, who did come off the bench to edge the Bombers in last year's infamous Banjo Bowl loss and made his first start a week later, knows he'll be back wearing a ballcap the moment Darian Durant loses the walking boot on his left foot.

And while the headlines in Toronto on Wednesday screamed out praise for Collaros -- Collaros Brilliant, The Kid Has Arrived, Collaros Steals the Show -- the minute Ricky Ray is healthy again the young Cincinnati gunslinger will be back patrolling the sidelines.

Goltz, like Alex Brink and Joey Elliott before him, has stepped into an entirely different situation; a boiling cauldron of show-something-right-bleepin'-now expectations that means every mistake is magnified and every series -- heck, every throw -- becomes an unofficial referendum on his ability.

It's not just about now, it's about the lingering shadow of a 22-year Grey Cup drought, about a club winless in its fancy new stadium and a management regime now in the fourth year of a rebuild that has featured the shooting-star season of 2011 but a whole pile of heartache before and after.

There's more, too, that separates Goltz from his three first-start compadres. And this might be the most telling difference: the men game-planning for their fresh-faced QBs in Calgary, Saskatchewan and Toronto have considerably more experience than what is in place here with the Bombers.

Consider the Stamps are led by John Hufnagel and their offensive co-ordinator is Dave Dickenson, both ex-CFL pivots; Saskatchewan's new offensive co-ordinator is veteran coach George Cortez, the former Hamilton head knock who devised the CFL's No. 1 attack last season, while the Riders also employ Khari Jones -- a Bomber hall-of-fame pivot -- as their QB coach. The Argonauts are helmed by Scott Milanovich, a former QB and CFL coordinator, who has two ex-CFL signal-callers on his staff in Marcus Brady and Jason Maas.

Maybe that, in part, explains why Bomber head coach Tim Burke -- a defensive specialist who turned over the offence to Gary Crowton, now in his second year in the CFL -- was tossing around the idea this week of bringing in consultants to study what ails this team.

Let's face it, when it comes to offensive brainpower the Stamps, Argos and Riders are splitting the atom, while the Bombers are still fiddling with basic arithmetic.

Yes, there are two parts to the find-and-develop theory so many have pushed the Bombers to engage in at the quarterback spot. They've done the finding part in landing Goltz and Max Hall to go along with Buck Pierce.

The developing aspect takes time, patience and experience. And right now the Bombers are thin at all three.

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All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.